Containers and closure means therefor



Oct. 6, 1964 w. J. RODNEY 3,151,777

CONTAINERS AND CLOSURE MEANS THEREFOR Filed April 3, 1963 5-! 26 2e 1 If52. r I 28 2 30 l 34, 2. 40 l 3 is I 29 I829 F'ze.

' WILLIAM J. ROONEY' A 7'7 ORNE Y United States Patent 3,151,777CONTAINER? AND CLOSURE MEAYS THEREFOR William J. Rooney, 840 S. MainSt., Phillipsburg, NJ. Filed Apr. 3, 1963, Ser. No. 270,214 2 Claims.(Cl. 222-92) This invention relates generally to containers, such ascollapsible tubes, bottles and the like, and particularly to improvedclosure means for such containers.

Heretofore containers such as collapsible tubes, bottles and the likethat are used to market pastes, creams, liquids and the like, have theircontents expelled from an outlet opening formed in the neck of thecontainer. Ordinarily, a detachable threaded cap is provided to closethe opening in order to maintain a substantially airtight seal over thecontents of the container. Considerable difficulty is encountered inreplacing the cap, and the caps are frequently misplaced and lost.Again, owing to the nature of the material contained in the containers,the threads engaging the cap soon become caked and make replacement ofthe cap tedious and irritating.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide an improvedcontainer with closure in which the foregoing objections anddisadvantages are overcome.

It is another object of the present invention to provide in a dispensingcontainer closure means nondetachably secured to the neck of thecontainer so as to preclude the possibility of loss or misplacement.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a dispensingcontainer in which a maximum amount of protection from the atmosphereand other contaminating agencies is afforded the contents of thecontainer.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide an improveddispensing container in which the period during which any portion of thecontents is exposed to the air is greatly reduced.

It is a specific object of the invention to provide a onepiece closurecap for a dispensing container, with a fracturable or frangible body, sothat a portion of the body remains fixed and closes the main axialopening in the neck of the container and another portion is breakableaway from said first-named portion and movable along the neck andadapted to close or open a discharge outlet in the side of the neck.

Yet a still further object of the invention is to provide a closure fora dispensing container which will automatically come apart when manualpressure is exerted thereon externally of the container.

It is also an object to provide a closure for a dispensing type ofcontainer that is economical to manufacture, simple in construction andattractive in appearance.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which thevarious novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the top portion of acontainer having a neck and closure embodying the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the container as seen from the line 22 ofFIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the parts shown in FIG. 1 and asviewed on line 33 of FiG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view similar to FIG. 1 showing thecollar portion of the closure separated from the cap portion, exposingthe outlet opening in the neck,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the container with the partsas shown in FIG. 4, showing paste 3,151,777. Fatented Oct. 6, 1964 "icebeing forced from the outlet opening, upon squeezing of the body of thecontainer,

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the container taken on the line 66of FIG. 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows thereof,

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the neck of the container taken onthe line 7-7 of FIG. 4 and looking in the direction of the arrowsthereof.

Referring in greater detail to the drawings, in FIG. 1 a container ofthe collapsible type is shown and designated generally by the referencenumeral 10. This container ill is formed of squeezable metal, plastic orother suitable material and has a hollow cylindrical body 12 with anupwardly tapering shoulder portion 14, continuing into an upstandinghollow neck 16, open at the top. In accordance with the invention, thehollow neck 16 is formed of lower externally screw-threaded portion 18and an upper externally screw-threaded portion 29, the lower portion 18being larger in dimensions than the upper portion 29, providing anannular shoulder 22 therebetween. An outlet opening 24 is provided inthe lower neck portion 18, the opening being inclined upwardly at aslight angle to the horizontal.

In practicing the invention, a one-piece closure indicated generally at25 is provided for initially closing the neck and sealing the contentsof the container. This closure 25 is formed of suitable plastic materialand consists of an internally-threaded cap portion 26 of inverteddishshape and a severable internally threaded collar portion 28depending therefrom. The cap portion 26 has a cylindrical smooth outsidesurface 30. The cap portion is formed with internal screw threads 32adapted to coact with the external screw threads on the upper neckportion 2%. The severable collar portion 28 comprises an annularformation 34 respectively larger in internal and external diameters thanthe respective internal and external diameters of the cap portion. Theannular formation 34 is formed with internal threads 38 adapted to coactwith the external threads on the lower neck portion 18. In accordancewith the invention, the material of the closure is weakened at thejuncture of the cap portion with the annular formation 34, around theclosure and adjacent the shoulder 22 as indicated at 40.Oppositelyextending Wings 42 are formed integrally with the annularformation 34 and extend radially thereof.

In use, the body 12 of the container 10 is loaded with material, such aspaste 46, as shown in FIG. 5. The closure 25 intact is threaded onto theneck 16 of the container whereby the cap portion 26 seats on the threadson the upper neck portion 20 with the weakened juncture 44 between thecap portion 26 and the collar portion 23 seating on the externalshoulder 22 formed on the neck 16 of the container. The threads 38 onthe annular formation of the collar portion 28 are thus threaded ontothe threads on the lower neck section 18. When the closure is in thisposition, the axial opening through the neck 16 is sealed by the capportion 26 and the annular formation 34 of the collar portion 28 isdisposed over the outer end of the outlet opening 24 thereby sealing offthe outlet opening. If it is desired to use the contents of thecontainer without removing the severable closure 25, it is merelynecessary to grasp the wings 42 of the collar portion 28 and exert atorsional twist on the annular portion 34 thereof in a counter clockwisedirection as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2 and a perpendicular pressure willbe applied, whereupon the weakened juncture 46 of the closure at thejuncture of the cap portion and collar portion 28 will be fractured andseparated so that upon continued turning of the collar portion 28 in thesame direction, the collar portion 28 will ride down the neck away fromand exposing the outlet opening 24 as shown in FIG. 4. Jagged formations40 and 40" will be respectively left upon the respective cap and collarportions 26 and 28 of the closure 25. The cap portion 26 remains inseated sealing condition on the upper end portion 20 of the neck asshown in FIGS, 4 and 5. The collar portion 28 may be moved so as to seaton the shoulder 29 formed between the tapering shoulder portion 14 andneck 16. When the parts of the closure 25 are in the postiion of FIGURE4, upon squeezing of the body 12 of the container, the contents such asthe paste 46 will be pressed outwardly through the neck 16 and outletopening 24 thereof onto a brush or the like.

When the contents of the container has been used as desired, by merelyturning the collar portion 28 in the opposite direction, orcounterclockwise, the collar portion 28 will ride up the neck and intoabutting relation with the cap portion 26 again thereby sealing oi theoutlet opening 24 in the neck 16 until further use of the container isto be had.

It should be understood that this same closure may as well be adapted tobottles and other types of containers to dispense liquids, powders andthe like.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise construction herein disclosed and that various changes andmodifications may be made within the scope of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desired tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A container for holding paste and the like including a hollowcollapsible body with a neck at one end, said neck having lower andupper externally-threaded portions of different diameters, the lowerportion being wider than the upper portion, said lower portion having adischarge outlet in the side thereof, a closure having a cap portion anda collar portion, the cap portion constituted by an inverted shallowdish-shaped body internally screwthreaded, the collar portionconstituted by an annular formation integral with the end of thedish-shaped body, the annular formation having an inner diameter largerthan the inner diameter of the cap portion and having internal screwthreads, the material at the juncture between the dish-shaped body andannular formation being fracturable, whereby the annular formation isadapted to be separated from the dish-shaped body and moved along thelower portion of the neck away from the discharge outlet to expose thesame for discharging the contents of the body and movable toward .theoutlet to reseal the same, and opposed wings radiating from the annularformation to facilitate fracturing of the material and subsequentturning of the annular formation and movement thereof along the neck.

2. A container for holding paste, liquid powder and the like including ahollow collapsible cylindrical body with a tapering shoulder at one endthereof, terminating in a neck extending axially of the body, said neckhaving a lower externally screw-threaded section and an upper externallyscrew-threaded portion smaller in diameter than the diameter of thelower portion, a shoulder on the tapering shoulder disposed at an anglethereto, the lower neck portion having a discharge outlet disposedangularly to the axis of the neck, and a closure for the axial openingin the neck and for the discharge outlet in the side of the neck, saidclosure having a cap portion adapted to seal the axial opening and acollar portion integral with the cap portion adapted to seal thedischarge outlet, the material between the cap portion and collarportion being fracturable, opposed wings on the collar for turning thecollar formation relative to the cap portion for fracturing the materialbetween the cap portion and collar portion, whereby the collar ismovable away from the discharge outlet toward and away from the angularshoulder for seating thereon and to expose the discharge opening fordischarging the contents and movable toward the discharge outlet forrescaling the same.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSMuhlhoif Oct. 16,

1. A CONTAINER FOR HOLDING PASTE AND THE LIKE INCLUDING A HOLLOWCOLLAPSIBLE BODY WITH A NECK AT ONE END, SAID NECK HAVING LOWER ANDUPPER EXTERNALLY-THREADED PORTIONS OF DIFFERENT DIAMETERS, THE LOWERPORTION BEING WIDER THAN THE UPPER PORTION, SAID LOWER PORTION HAVING ADISCHARGE OUTLET IN THE SIDE THEREOF, A CLOSURE HAVING A CAP PORTION ANDA COLLAR PORTION, THE CAP PORTION CONSITUTED BY AN INVERTED SHALLOWDISH-SHAPED BODY INTERNALLY SCREWTHREADED, THE COLLAR PORTIONCONSTITUTED BY AN ANNULAR FORMATION INTEGRAL WITH THE END OF THEDISH-SHAPED BODY, THE ANNULAR FORMATION HAVING AN INNER DIAMETER LARGERTHAN THE INNER DIAMETER OF THE CAP PORTION AND HAVING INTERNAL SCREWTHREADS, THE MATERIAL AT THE JUNCTURE BETWEEN THE DISH-SHAPED BODY ANDANNULAR FORMATION BEING FRACTURABLE, WHEREBY THE ANNULAR FORMATION ISADAPTED TO BE SEPARATED FROM THE DISH-SHAPED BODY AND MOVED ALONG THELOWER PORTION OF THE NECK AWAY FROM THE DISCHARGE OUTLET TO EXPOSE THESAME FOR DISCHARGING THE CONTENTS OF THE BODY AND MOVABLE TOWARD THEOUTLET TO RESEAL THE SAME, AND OPPOSED WINGS RADIATING FROM THE ANNULARFORMATION TO FACILITATE FRACTURING OF THE MATERIAL AND SUBSEQUENTTURNING OF THE ANNULAR FORMATION AND MOVEMENT THEREOF ALONG THE NECK.